Office Chairs can take a lot of hammer in the average office environment and although chair component failure isn’t common it’s by no means unknown.

So what sort of problems can occur with your office seat and what are the practicalities of fixing them.

Probably one of the commonest problems I find with an Office Chair is a faulty gas lift, this typically occurs where the chair’s gas lift (height adjustment mechanism), won’t maintain its height setting. As soon as the user sits on the chair seat it just sinks slowly.

This can usually be fixed relatively simply, you just need to get a replacement gas lift from the chair manufacturer or office chair supplier. Fitting it is simple provided the gas lift stem can be released from the chair base and seat. The supplier may need to do this for you if the gas lift is seized in the chair, using a specialist chair drift.

The next common problem I find is damaged or worn chair upholstery. More often than not re-upholstery is your only option. Whether it is worth re-covering your office seat will depend on a number of factors, including the chair’s overall condition, cost relative to the price of a new chair, availability of fabric in the same finish if it is to match other chairs in the office or whether the chair’s design allows re-upholstery without damaging other parts of the office chair.

I will consider the remaining repair problems with Office Chairs in my next post.
Tags: office chairs, office seating

It seems to me that a trend has developed in the office seating market for making chairs overly sophisticated just for the sake of it.

I suppose some of this goes back the mid 1990’s with the launch of the Aeron chair by Herman Miller. The Aeron was such a radical change in conventional Office Chair design, many manufacturers somehow felt the need to add gizmos to their office seating ranges, so they could call them ergonomic office chairs.

The trend continues and nowadays I frequently see operator, task and executive chairs with a multitude of different levers, buttons, air bags etc that often just serve to confuse the hapless chair user.

The average office worker just wants a chair that is first and foremost comfortable and also simple to adjust to their own seating requirements.

So, let’s consider what functions your Office Chair needs to ensure you are comfortably seated at your office desk.

Here’s a quick checklist:

• Seat height adjustment

• Seat depth adjustment

• Arm height adjustment

• Tension adjustment to suit your weight and build

There really shouldn’t be any need for any further adjustments on your office seat, unless you have a specific disability or injury that requires specialist seating requirements.

So, when next you consider a new Office Chair I suggest you steer clear of those chairs with half a dozen levers that look like you have to select a gear to get it to do what you want.

Instead, look for a well-engineered chair, with simple seat and back adjustments and adjustable arms, if you decide you would like a task chair fitted with arms. I normally recommend arms, however it’s an individual choice and I know quite a few intensive keyboard users prefer a typist’s chair without arms.

Stick to simple chair design you’ll be glad you did.